The description of nature and open space in a fairy tale occupies an insignificant place, but it is closely connected with the development of fairy-tale action. Stylistic analysis of landscape presentation techniques shows us this inextricable link, a rapid transition to narrative.
Let us consider characteristic examples taken from the main classical collections of Russian fairy tales: A. N. Afanasyev's Folk Tales in three volumes. Vol. I-III. Moscow, 1957, hereinafter-A; Zelenin D. K. Great Russian fairy tales of the Perm province. Pg., 1914, hereinafter-377; Zelenin D. K. Great Russian Fairy Tales of the Vyatka Province. Pg., 1915, further-37?; Northern Russian fairy tales in the records of A. I. Nikiforov. Moscow-L., 1961, further-N.; Onchukov N.E. Northern fairy tales. St. Petersburg., 1908, further-O; Great Russian fairy tales in the records of I. A. Khudyakov. Moscow-L., 1964, further-X.
The traditional method of gradual narrowing of images in a lyrical song is used in a fairy tale when describing the landscape that meets the hero on the way. At the same time, the storyteller costs about-
page 99
a simple enumeration constructed by chaining addition, as well as the use of extremely few verbs with the meaning of placement in space: standing, sitting, lying down. "Here is a green meadow, in the meadow the grass is an ant, on the grass the bed is cut" (l. T. 2. p. 273); " He comes to the forest, in the forest there is a huge palace. Three oaks stand near this palace "(X. p. 94); " They approach the sea. There is a tower by the sea; there is a pillar by this tower, with a signature on it... " (377, p. 89). Landscape epithets are stable: a clear field, a dense forest, but the fairy-tale description tends to use its verb equivalent along with the epithet: for example, an impenetrable forest is one that can neither pass nor pass: "She threw the comb - it became a dense forest, you can neither pass nor pass" (A. T. 2. P. 207);"We came to such a mountain: neither to ascend, nor to ascend this mountain... " (X. p. 301).
In all these cases, we meet with a description technique that can be called a "verbal implementation of the epithet": "The army jumped up and saw that the fiery river (...) Only this army, whoever of the people will rush, will now be scalded " (X. P. 241); "A dark, dark night overtook him, but so cold that you can't get a tooth on your tooth" (A. T. 2. P.208). This technique is often expressed in the form of an impersonal construction: "We arrived in the forest, in such a wilderness that there is nowhere to go" (X. P. 62); "...And got into such a dense forest that you can't see anything but the sky and trees" ( A. T. 2. P.149).
These impersonal constructions are intended to create the impression of immersing listeners in the world of a fairy-tale landscape, i.e. to perform a suggestive function in this sense of the word. The narrator describes what is happening "from the inside" of the situation, looking through the eyes of the hero. So, we find ourselves together at the bottom of a huge ditch, or at the foot of a high mountain: "There are all sorts of reptiles and animals in this ditch, and even from there you can not see the sunlight" (X. P . 241); "We came to such a mountain - it is terrible to look at: it is very high" ( X. P. 241). 63); " And lo, before him is a high mountain-high! You can't look up with your eyes" (A. T. 2. p. 439); "It's empty all around, you can't see a human soul" (A. T. 2. P. 200); "Only you can't see anyone but birds" (X. p. 59); " Quiet, quiet, brother, your hair doesn't wither - nothing. I haven't heard it" (O. S. 80).
It is to such examples that the observation of the researcher of the Russian fairy tale V. P. Anikin is applicable: "The personality of the narrator seems to dissolve in artistic images, paintings. He is completely captured by the story about the actions of the heroes... The listener involuntarily becomes an empathizer of the action" (Anikin V. P. Russkaya narodnaya skazka, Moscow, 1977. C7 164, 165).
Let's look at the two main types of landscape found in a folk fairy tale. First of all, it is a landscape-an obstacle that acts as a forest, mountain, river, sea: "The army has galloped up to the forest and sees that the forest is impassable. They turned back, took axes, and cut a path for themselves " (X. p. 241).
page 100
Since the landscape is an obstacle to witchcraft, its description uses stylistic conspiracy techniques, but they fit seamlessly into fabulous formula stereotypes built using enumeration, amplifying negation with the particles "neither, nor", impersonal constructions with verbs in an indefinite form:
"If the forest were dark, from heaven to earth, from earth to sky, from ostok to the west, neither horse nor foot would pass" (O. S. 310).
This "expanded" inclusion of the landscape as an obstacle "balances" the narrative of overcoming it: "" Become a mountain not passable to the sky, so that there is no bird to fly, no beast to pass, no devil to pass." The mountain also became. Chortisho came down from the mountain, began to sich, cut down and cut a path, went for Nastasya Tsarevna" " (O. p. 148).
The weather in the fairy tale is mentioned only in connection with the further development of the plot: so, if it is said about the heat, it means that something important will happen because of it: "There are copper gates at this palace, two lions are tied at this gate. It was such a hot day. This Arikad-tsarevich brought water to these lions, watered them. They missed it" (X. P. 63).
The story of a hot day plays the role of motivating the behavior of the characters in the story "Miraculous Escape". The father of the future hero of the fairy tale was very thirsty in the heat: "Here he is walking through the forest, heat, heat, with a gun, like a hunter, and he wanted to drink" ( N. S. 117); " Once a merchant was traveling. It was a very hot day, and the merchant got down from his horse, went to the river, and began to drink. Suddenly someone has caught him by the beard and won't let him go" ( 3B. p.377). Instead of a river, there may be a lake or a well.
Thus, the trap landscape is characterized by a reference to a hot day: therefore, the hero was thirsty, and the sea king grabbed him by the beard - so he fell into the trap.
Consider another example found in the story "The Battle on Kalinov Bridge", which also talks about the heat, about the hero's intention to drink or relax, and about the trap that awaits him, since the landscape he sees is witchy: "I will run ahead of the heat; and there will be a garden, in the garden there will be a well: as in a well of water I will drink, they will be torn into three parts" ( ZP. S . 91). The description of the trap landscape immediately turns into a narrative, which is based on a two-part verb construction, in its first part - verbs in the form of the future tense, and in the second part - the verb "will break": "Go curl up with a well, spring water and a golden cup. If they drink this water, they will be torn apart and crushed to pieces by the seeds of poppies " (O. S. 81-82).
The destruction of the trap landscape is also based on the two-part verb construction "hit" - "did not become": "We drove away a little, suddenly it was stuffy and hot, and there was a garden, a well in the garden (...) He took a whip, went into the garden, made the sign of the cross over the well, struck the well with the whip, killed Yaga Yagishna, and the garden was gone " (ZP. p. 90);"...Began
page 101
this well should be flogged and hacked - only blood splashes, suddenly it's a foggy day, the heat has subsided and I don't want to drink" ( A. T. I. P. 273).
The narrator pays attention to the description of nature in a fairy tale only because such a landscape is a necessary "link" in the development of the plot action: "They go by the way-by the road, they are overtaken by a dark night; they drive up to one hut. "Brother Storm is a hero, see, the rain is coming down, let's spend the night in this hut..." He went down to this hut and began to chop it - only the blood is prickling! " (A. T. 1. P. 24).
In the fairy tale narrative, we can find the expressions "I will become a storm", "I will run ahead of the heat", as well as curse formulas like "I cursed with something": "And I cursed my daughter, for three years in the sky with a star" ( N. S. 122); " I cursed her for three years with the river techti..." (ZV. P. 381).
These stereotypical constructions reflect the belief of our ancestors in werewolvism. Numerous examples of the transformation of heroes who strive to resemble the surrounding landscape are found in fairy tales of the plot type "Miraculous Escape" with the "formula of werewolfism" - " turned) into...": "My wife, like a sorceress, turned a horse into a dark night, and themselves into heavenly bodies" ( N. S. 122); " Vasilisa the Beautiful I made it a vegetable garden, and myself a head of cabbage... You can't see anything in an open field, you only saw one vegetable garden, and in that garden a head of cabbage" ( A. t. 2. p. 203).
As you can see, the range of possibilities of fairy-tale fiction, for all its traditionality, is unlimited: from a star to a head of cabbage.
All the main features of the "landscape part" of a fairy tale, up to stable speech constructions, are influenced by the genre canon with its requirements of dynamism and entertaining action.
New publications: |
Popular with readers: |
News from other countries: |
Editorial Contacts | |
About · News · For Advertisers |
Swedish Digital Library ® All rights reserved.
2014-2025, LIBRARY.SE is a part of Libmonster, international library network (open map) Keeping the heritage of Serbia |